Customer Reviews

Heroes Volume 1

5 star:		(421)
4 star:		(90)
3 star:		(20)
2 star:		(23)
1 star:		(28)

 

 

What if you discovered that you had a superpower -- great strength, flight, teleportation, or amazing healing? And what if you could use it to save the world?

Superheroes are everywhere in entertainment, from comic books to movies. But few manage to be as intelligent, geeky and well-written as "Heroes," a solid comic-book style TV series that explores the repercussions of several "ordinary" people who discover that they have strange -- and sometimes dangerous -- powers.

It opens with Mohinder Suresh (Sendhil Ramamurthy) reflecting on the human quest for knowledge -- even knowledge that we shouldn't have -- right before learning that his father has been killed, possibly murdered. Suresh's dad believed that "special" people were cropping up, much like in X-Men.

And we are introduced to the "heroes": stripper Niki (Ali Larter) harbors a secret dark side, cheerleader Claire (Hayden Panettiere) heals from any injury, Japanese Dilbert Hiro (Masi Oka) can bend time and space, Senatorial candidate Nathan (Adrian Pasdar) is able to fly, his brother Peter (Milo Ventimiglia) can copy others' powers, a cop Matt (Greg Grunberg) can read minds, and junkie artist Isaac (Santiago Cabrera) sees the future. There are plenty of others that show up, but these start the ball rolling.

While Claire and Hiro explore the potential of their new powers, Niki and her son try to elude some hired thugs --and end up overwhelmed by her dark side, and framed. And Suresh searches for the answer to his father's death, only to find that his genetics research is involved with the "special people," and that a superpowered serial killer is targeting them.

Even worse, Hiro takes a trip to New York (five weeks in the future), and sees the city destroyed by a massive blast -- as does Isaac, through his paintings. How to stop it? As a future Hiro tells them, "save the cheerleader, save the world." The Heroes begin slowly coming into contact, in a haze of dreams, visions, murder, swords and death -- and to stop the serial killer and save New York, more sacrifices may be made...

Unlike most shows about people with superpowers, "Heroes" isn't really about the action or flashy battles. It's half epic save-the-world-as-a-team story, and half exploration of how real, ordinary people would react if they suddenly found out that they had superpowers, and how this would change -- or NOT change -- their lives.

The storylines are incredibly intricate and complex, since there are a dozen subplots and a lot of time travel, and plenty of hints at future events. The careful painting of all these storylines even further in two episodes, one of which shows the pre-Heroic lies of the characters (and how Syler became a murderous terror), and another that shows what the future will be like if they don't change it. It's not a pretty picture.

These complex storylines are enhanced by lots of suspense and tightly directed action, and the makers always know how to throw in a shocking twist, such as a sword-carrying future Hiro showing up.. But there is also some poignancy, and very dark humor from time to time (Claire waking up in mid-autopsy, or twisting her broken neck around). Not to mention some great, sometimes geeky dialogue ("Where did you learn all this?" "X-men No. 143 when Kitty Pryde time travels!").

The actors are pretty much all good -- Larter gives a great double performance, Zachary Quinto is a wonderfully twisted villain, and Panettiere gives a good performance as a teen whose adolescence has a lot more than hormones in store. Masi Oka is the standout, though -- his Hiro is sweet, endearing, geeky, heroic, sad, kindly, funny and thoroughly lovable. The scene where he arrives in New York is adorable.

The "Heroes" are only starting their journey, and the first season of this geeky hit is a must-see for fans of intelligent sci-fi drama. And I doubt their journey is over...

I cannot emphasize enough that this is a stellar example of the power of character driven TV that follows a continuous plotline. If you're looking for something that you can tune into and out of then this isn't the show for you. If, however, you're looking for TV that is engaging, intriguing, and innovative then this is the show for you.

My preferred activity is normally reading and I don't watch much TV because, frankly, I find most TV subpar. Imagine my delight when I tuned into this show mostly out of curiosity and ended the season a diehard fan. I never missed an episode and looked forward to each new one with great anticipation. I give most of the credit for this to where I feel the credit is due: the writing. The writers for this show did a masterful job of creating an involving story arc and in giving the viewer just enough information to keep him or her coming back for more. Answers to various questions were carefully dolled out over the course of the season so that the viewer never feels frustrated by too little story dragged out over too much time. The pacing of this season was, in a word, perfect.

The other reason to devour this show is the characters and, in particular, the endearing and wonderful Hiro. My favorite of the characters, Hiro exemplifies that childlike joy that some people possess when they discover they are particularly talented at something. He provides comic relief without being too silly and his earnestness make him very lovable. His faithful friend and sidekick Ando is certainly not to be overlooked either and these two make for a truly dynamic duo. As far as complexity goes, my vote goes to Claire who starts out struggling with typical teenager desires and grows and develops over the course of the season until she is easily the most sympathetic character.

Excellent writing and excellent characters would mean little without the acting to back them up, though, and this show has that in abundance. All of the actors imbue their characters with life and believability so that even though the bulk of them are possessed of superhuman powers they still seem like the kind of people who could be your nextdoor neighbors.

I simply can't say enough good things about this show. I encourage everyone who enjoys really engaging, story and character driven, and thought-provoking television to watch this show.

Once again we were late tuning in to a new hit show. After watching Heroes on NBC-HD we are looking forward to the HD-DVD release to see all the shows we missed.
I agree with the reviewer below that more information about the special futures are needed.
There is a list of special HD features on Tv Shows.com they claim to have confirmed, I can only assume their confirmation is correct, but I don't know any better than anyone else so please don't take my word as gospel on this.


"The following bonus material will be on the DVD and on the HD-DVD *Audio *Commentaries

*The 73-minute Un-Aired Original Series Premiere/Pilot from show creator Tim Kring (with optional audio commentary)
*50 Deleted Scenes
*Exclusive Behind-The-Scenes Featurettes:
*Making Of featurette
*Special Effects featurette
*Stunts featurette
*Tim Sale Profile featurette

*The Score featurette
*The following bonus material will be exclusive to the HD-DVD version ("Minder Reader" is in 480p; the other two are 1080p):
*Minder Reader (Interactive Activity)
*U-Control with the following:-Artwork Presentation -Character Connections -Helix Revealed -Genetic Abilities Test
*Connectivity Features -Download Center including User Registration"


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Looks like somebody took the whole superhero craze we have been getting over the past few years and came up with a truly innovative and compelling television series. Heroes isn't your standard comic book fan's television show. This is some serious writing with drama, depth and yeah... some fun and action as well.

What makes this show so great is the large cast of characters who all seem to have significance in the story. Even better is that all of these characters come from different backgrounds and approach life in different ways, but at the same time there is something special about them. Everybody has that fantasy of being special and this show has at least one character in it you can identify with.

The writing is almost pitch perfect with every episode giving you something to get excited about. The show is done in serial format so what happens in one episode resonates throughout the series, and Heroes takes it to a grand level. Sometimes you get a great cliffhanger styled ending and sometimes you just a cool revelation. Either way each ep is sure to please. That's especially for the last episode of the season, which answers a lot of questions, keeps the lesser questions still hanging, asks even more questions, and ties up the major loose ends nicely. So nicely that even if the show never made to the second season you would have a well-rounded story from beginning to end.

Now for the DVD. If you are going to do it this is the way to go! This DVD is packed. Here's what you get:

- An extended version of the pilot episode. 73 minutes long according to my sources. That's an extra 30 minutes AND includes footage of a never before seen character! Well... people saw it at the San Diego ComicCon last year, but that's besides the point.

- 50 (that's right... 50!!!) deleted and extended scenes.

- Making of Heroes featurette as well as specials on the stunts, special effects, and music score.

- Special profile of Tim Sale: the artist who does Isacc Mendez' paintings.

- A mind reading mini-game (don't ask me... that's what I heard).

This is going to be a killer DVD set. I also heard Heroes season 1 will come out on HD DVD. The buzz is they will include special features exclusive to the HD version in addition to all of the features already on the DVD. So if you have an HD-DVD player you will probably want to forego the regular release and get the HD version.

Anyway if you like the show you will love the DVD (or HD DVD if that's your thing). Doesn't matter if you're a comic book fan, sci-fi/fantasy fan, or whatever. If you like good stories in the serial format this show is it.

What if you discovered that you had a superpower -- great strength, flight, teleportation, or amazing healing? And what if you could use it to save the world?

Superheroes are everywhere in entertainment, from comic books to movies. But few manage to be as intelligent, geeky and well-written as "Heroes," a solid comic-book style TV series that explores the repercussions of several "ordinary" people who discover that they have strange -- and sometimes dangerous -- powers.

It opens with Mohinder Suresh (Sendhil Ramamurthy) reflecting on the human quest for knowledge -- even knowledge that we shouldn't have -- right before learning that his father has been killed, possibly murdered. Suresh's dad believed that "special" people were cropping up, much like in X-Men.

And we are introduced to the "heroes": stripper Niki (Ali Larter) harbors a secret dark side, cheerleader Claire (Hayden Panettiere) heals from any injury, Japanese Dilbert Hiro (Masi Oka) can bend time and space, Senatorial candidate Nathan (Adrian Pasdar) is able to fly, his brother Peter (Milo Ventimiglia) can copy others' powers, a cop Matt (Greg Grunberg) can read minds, and junkie artist Isaac (Santiago Cabrera) sees the future. There are plenty of others that show up, but these start the ball rolling.

While Claire and Hiro explore the potential of their new powers, Niki and her son try to elude some hired thugs --and end up overwhelmed by her dark side, and framed. And Suresh searches for the answer to his father's death, only to find that his genetics research is involved with the "special people," and that a superpowered serial killer is targeting them.

Even worse, Hiro takes a trip to New York (five weeks in the future), and sees the city destroyed by a massive blast -- as does Isaac, through his paintings. How to stop it? As a future Hiro tells them, "save the cheerleader, save the world." The Heroes begin slowly coming into contact, in a haze of dreams, visions, murder, swords and death -- and to stop the serial killer and save New York, more sacrifices may be made...

Unlike most shows about people with superpowers, "Heroes" isn't really about the action or flashy battles. It's half epic save-the-world-as-a-team story, and half exploration of how real, ordinary people would react if they suddenly found out that they had superpowers, and how this would change -- or NOT change -- their lives.

The storylines are incredibly intricate and complex, since there are a dozen subplots and a lot of time travel, and plenty of hints at future events. The careful painting of all these storylines even further in two episodes, one of which shows the pre-Heroic lies of the characters (and how Syler became a murderous terror), and another that shows what the future will be like if they don't change it. It's not a pretty picture.

These complex storylines are enhanced by lots of suspense and tightly directed action, and the makers always know how to throw in a shocking twist, such as a sword-carrying future Hiro showing up.. But there is also some poignancy, and very dark humor from time to time (Claire waking up in mid-autopsy, or twisting her broken neck around). Not to mention some great, sometimes geeky dialogue ("Where did you learn all this?" "X-men No. 143 when Kitty Pryde time travels!").

The actors are pretty much all good -- Larter gives a great double performance, Zachary Quinto is a wonderfully twisted villain, and Panettiere gives a good performance as a teen whose adolescence has a lot more than hormones in store. Masi Oka is the standout, though -- his Hiro is sweet, endearing, geeky, heroic, sad, kindly, funny and thoroughly lovable. The scene where he arrives in New York is adorable.

The "Heroes" are only starting their journey, and the first season of this geeky hit is a must-see for fans of intelligent sci-fi drama. And I doubt their journey is over...

The first time I heard about this show, I rolled my eyes. After all, it was by no means original. Every character (with the possible exception of Nikki/ Jessica) was already done by X-Men. Claire (Wolverine's healing), DL (Kitty Pryde), Peter (Mimic), Nathan (at least 5 characters)... I probably only watched it so I could see how it compared to X-Men. And then, I was hooked.

There is plenty of action to go around in the season. What had me just as hooked was the characters. They were by no means shallow. They had to deal with real problems - cheating spouse, living up to his parent's standards, fear of what parents would say if they knew who they really were... While some of them had deeper stories and personalities than others, I loved how the good vs. evil line remained blurred. For example: Was Bennet (Claire's dad), perceived as evil in the first few episodes, really bad? On the other hand, the "bad" guy felt guilty at the loss of innocent human lives. It was not a simple "we're good, you're evil, let's fight, good wins" type of show.

Fans of the X-Men will not be disappointed in this show. Any sci-fi fans, not to mention action/ drama fans will absolutely love it. It is definitely a must-see. I can't wait to see all the extras myself.

It seems like every show that I start to enjoy on TV lasts a few episodes and then gets promptly cancelled. Thankfully Heroes did not suffer that fate!

This ambitious show does not fit into the typical mold of a "hit TV show." What is more surprising is that it is on NBC, one of the "big" networks and not on a cable channel. With all that said, Heroes really delivered in it's freshmen season. It gave us interesting characters, fantastic powers, the right amount of humor, and the looming doom of catastrophe, all in a neat package.

Of course the show has it's critics, and I will agree that not every episode is hit out of the park, but they are all good in their own way. People have said that the stories and powers are unoriginal, taking things from Watchmen and X-Men, and all I can say to that is many movies and TV shows draw from other material and at least here they pay homage to great works of the past and use it interesting ways.

If you are looking for a new show with great flair and interesting characters and stories, check out Heroes.

I hate television. I never, ever watch tv. But I saw a preview for this show over the summer of 2006 while in a movie theatre. It totally caught my eye, and I decided to actually be home the day it came on and watched it - must have been the commercial-free pilot episode. It sucked me in. Maybe it was the fact that they cast a stunningly handsome Milo Ventimiglia as the empathic mimicrist Peter Petrelli - or the goofy and lovable Masi Oka as the time-travelling Japanese businessman with complete faith in saving the world? Not sure, but the brilliant writing hooked me.



Granted, there were moments throughout the season where some of the actors' lackluster acting skills had me groaning through some scenes, but it all melded together beautifully. The writing, each and every word, came together for some reason. Not a single thing in this series is put there for chance. EVERYTHING MEANS SOMETHING. And I love that they don't leave you dangling and wanting to hang yourself - the writers totally answer your questions (but also leave you asking several more....)



Sure... we all wanted to see more action with Sylar vs. Peter - but let's not forget... these are 'Ordinary People with Extraordinary Powers'.... you try dealing with this stuff in your life ;)



I don't understand why anyone would not like this show. As someone who has not enjoyed television for a long time, I can certainly say this series has been a breath of MUCH NEEDED fresh air. Definitely something for everyone - an intelligent, brilliant, edge-of-your-seat show that keeps you satisfied, yet wanting more after every show.

Heroes was by far the best show this year. I'm just hoping that it doesn't lose its appeal/credibility like LOST did. LOST ran out of ideas half way through the first season, but Heroes stayed compelling throughout. I have faith that next fall will bring another excellent season.

For those wondering about a Blu-ray version, it won't come out until Universal begins to release Blu-ray discs. They own NBC and are a studio supporting HD-DVD, therefore you'll have to wait until the studio support Blu-ray to get that version. But in the meantime enjoy it on HD-DVD if you can!

What a great start for what I hope is a long running series. Great pacing, tightly plotted with enough reveals with conceals, a satisfyiing story arc / season finale. Great casting! Lots of fresh faces along with lots of familar ones.

The THEME: What if some everyday folks suddenly became superpowered in the "real world?" What if these people's origins, though seemingly random, were very much connected? And "How do you stop a man from exploding (along with a bunch of NYC)?

If you didn't see it there's alot more to it than those questions. Lots of drama, some cool effects and plenty of humor too.

The 9th Wonders is a fictional comic that parallels the events of the characters in the series, partly because it's creator Isaac Mendez (SANTIAGO CABRERA)is an artist who can paint the future. This ability eventually joins these seemingly random group of heroes and villans together to resolve the fate of the city, and maybe, THE WORLD!

The series won plenty of respect from NBC along with award from the likes of the American Film Institute for Best TV Program of the Year, Hollywood Foreign Press Association, a Golden Globe (for Best TV Drama), the Peoples Choice, and others.In fact, the NAACP acknowledged the series for its efforts, and well it should, the cast is amazingly diverse in race and gender(but science-fiction and fantasy has always been ahead of the game there).

The archetypes roll out, but rarely take the obvious paths. Several character story threads are ultimately all entwined. Like that of Hiro Nakamura's lovable Japanese geek who can bend time & space (Masi Oka)and his powerless but loyal friend. Or Peter Petrelli (Milo Ventimiglia)the power-absorbing male nurse who may be the cause or the solution of the problems to be, and his flying politician brother (played by Adrian Pasdar or Top Gun & Profit). The brainy (but likable) Micah Sanders and his "super" disfuntional family, Niki, a mentally split super-assassin/super-stripper mom and the phazing ex-con dad. The invunerable Cheerleader Claire Bennet who's past and present has been puppetmastered by dark forces. The would-be police detective with mind-reading powers and young Dr. Suresh seeking not only to finish his father's work, finding these "heroes," but stopping his father's killer. But who are the "heroes" and who are the villians? And what of the murderous watchmaker Sylar?

In typical soap fashion, even the ugly characters are interesting to look at. Eric Roberts, Malcom McDowell and Zachary Quinto appear as baddies in this charter season. Other cameos include George Takei as Hiro's father.

Watch for the 6 episode spinoff / filler series on NBC "Heroes: Origins" that will introduce a new superpowered character each week, viewers will select who makes it to the second season of Heroes.